A Tribute... To a Big Brother

"Forting - 9th of June, Year 34 of 1900"

I remember vividly, when I reached my age five,
began to understand, to appreciate and comprehend,
mother would always say, we're like a fruit of halve,
looking exactly alike, my pride, in flesh, in blood.

As I grew older, I saw his character beholden,
to sincerity, honesty, truthfulness and straight forward,
he is my idol, and wanted to follow his footsteps,
yet, we're different from each other,
two of a kind.

He is intelligent and handsome, how about me?
Not tall, not so short, taller is my brand,
kind and forgiving, definitely this is our trait,
more or less, our characters, are as blended.

Happy enough, to be different in fate, our faith is one,
by his endeavor, I joined his path, to our God,
for before, we were afar. For now, we're together,
serving Him, throughout our life and beyond.

Truly, our fate can never be the same,
but we can always strive, to be at hand,
shun away jealousy and envy, we'll unite,
preserve our relationship, to a joyous brotherhood.

We shall not last, to see the coming day's,
for what may become, of our generations in the end.
We are sure for what they see, and saw in us,
in prayers and in faith, we shall be remembered.

from a kid brother
Hector

Tres Amados Hermanos!
Forting, Hector, Roland

My Homeland - Davao, Philippines

Hearing the "maayong buntag, Sir" greetings is like listening to an old hit music to me. These words give me a short burst of memories during my younger years in Davao City.

Upon arrival at the Davao International Airport, I can already smell the famous or should I say, notorious odor of the Durian fruit. Although for me, as a legit Davao-borne child, it sure smell like heaven, as opposed to the famous phrase "Durian - Smells like hell, but tastes like heaven".

My second child, Kevin, 22, fetched me at the airport. 5 years ago, he decided to stay here in Davao with my parents and continue his studies here. I'm not surprised because he was born here, Oct. 27, 1987. The last time I'm with him was October of last year. The moment I saw him, I really wanted to hug him. But Kev's personality is "reserved". "Sinong kasama mo, Pa?" were the first words he uttered. Then the usual howdy's & how are the folks followed. My feeling of "lost time" w/ my kid is still present and I still wish that we could make up. I only thought that maybe this is also Tatay Forting's feelings when I left Davao in 1978 to pursue my Engineering Degree in Manila. Since then, I only got back once in a while for a vacation because I settled here in Quezon City with my loving & "superwoman" wife Becky, who hails from Parañaque. I was very fortunate for having her, aside from being a wonderful mother to our kids, she cooks perfect.












I was here in Davao to do some Commissioning works for a sound system installation and some video coverage for a Family Fun Day. My sister, Ethel, spared some of her precious time for me. She accompanied me to Tagum City, which is situated in the northern part of Davao Province. With Ethel's Rav 4, we traveled smoothly the narrow highways from Davao City to Tagum. I just loved the ride of this Toyota Rav 4. From Tagum, we traveled back to Davao to have a nice cup of coffee at the "Brewedcaster Coffee Shop" which is owned by my "sexy" sister Ethel.

Brewedcaster Coffee is a franchise which was started by local (Davao) ex-DJ's (disc jockeys), as the name definitely came from the word "broadcaster". You should try their famous Durian Brew & Durian Froccino.

They also serve short orders with rice such as the Steak which is personally prepared and served by the owner herself, Ethel.












Although my main task here is the coverage, I made it a point to spend more time with my folks, Tatay Forting & Nanay Luding. Barely able to walk because of his "gout", Tatay Forting's passion for his Church duties is what makes him stay in their locale, RickyRhoda, Davao, even until 11 in the evening. Watching them serve the Church with all of their strength made me realize to be more grateful of God's blessings.

I had also spent some quality time with Kevin. We checked out his acoustic drum set up in his pad, which is still under construction. I can say, he's really into this drumming hobby. I've even challenged him to do Porcaro's "Rosanna". He didn't quite got the perfect groove, but I'm sure he'll eventually nail it with a little more practice & passion.













I just wished I had more time to spend with Kevin & my folks down in Davao City. In the mean time, I'll continue to cherish my sweet memories of the fun & excitement living in the "Land of Promise", and for sure, I'll miss my favorite tuna dishes especially prepared by Nanay Luding.
Love you folks!

Comelec to use blogs to update voters

MANILA, Philippines -- Realizing the power of blogging to disseminate information, the Commission on Elections is tapping the Elections Education and Information Department (EID)'s blog (http://bagongbotante.ph/eidblog) to give updates on the ongoing voters' registration, an official said Wednesday.

Inquirer Story

Opinion: Windows 7's UAC is a broken mess; mend it or end it

The changes Microsoft has made to Windows 7's UAC render it little more than a pesky annoyance. If this is the path the company wishes to go down, it should stop doing things by halves and kill it off altogether, according to arstechnica. (www.arstechnica.com)

See the full story

http://tinyurl.com/dy5hty

Amazon Releases Free 'Kindle for iPhone' Application

Amazon has released a free application that delivers Kindle book-reading to the iPhone:

Kindle for iPhone allows Apple iPhone and iPod touch owners to read Kindle books using a simple, easy-to-use interface, according to Macrumors. You can shop for hundreds of thousands of books at www.amazon.com/kindlestore, and wirelessly transfer the books to your iPhone or iPod touch.

Full story
http://tinyurl.com/abgcop

How Facebook, Google, and Yahoo Are Making Ads Part of Your Life

The Valley's biggest players are all racing to be the center of your online life, collecting your photos, blog posts, Twitter messages, and comments into one stream — and then dosing it with real-time ads.

According to valleywag, Facebook is unveiling a redesign (left) which replaces its friend-tracking News Feed feature with the Stream. The biggest difference: Corporate Facebook pages, for which users sign up to be "fans," can now place stories in the Stream much more frequently than they did with the News Feed.

The result: Facebook profiles will show less of what your real friends are doing, and more of what corporate pals like Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's are up to.

Full Story:

http://tinyurl.com/buy6oq

Slumdogs in the Philippines

I was intrigued by the Bollywood film "Slumdog Millionaire" because of the their awards received from different award-giving body including the Golden Globe Awards.
The next thing I did was to search for a copy & luckily a friend of mine gave one.

The film was shot in a slum area within the city of Mumbai, India.
While watching the film, I noticed the very near resemblance of the Slum Areas in the Philippines. Even the syndicates who live with their dirty money through their exploitation of the young & displaced children can also thrive in the Philippines. I just hope that Filipinos still have a heart not to do the "eye popper" rituals as done in the said film. The syndicate purposedly blinds the kid to be able to get sympathy in effect, for a bigger amount on alms.

The characters Jamal & Latika are portrayed perfectly and I believe that many Filipinos can relate to this characters perfectly.

The story revolves on "Who wants to be a millionaire" game show, which happens to be famous not only in India but likewise, one time in the Philippines.

Although, I find the dancing in the end as "out of context", the main actor & actress sure can dance. As usual, it has a happy ending.

Definitely, this film will surely capture the Filipino's thirst for quality film and definitely can inspire indie film producers.